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How exciting about the new job, new house, and new life! Fun stuff! Will you still be able to do your job in Wisconsin? We should talk off-line. I'm in Iowa, close to Wisconsin. It'd be super cool to have a meet up someday. I suspect Wisconsin winters won't be as tough to tackle as the NH winters.

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It's really weird, but I like it so far. Having a home gym is something my husband and I have wanted for years and with our new house, we got it.

It's a pretty simple Rogue squat/pull up rack with a bench and some plates. We still have a few dumbbells and kettlebells, too, for pressing and other stuff like loaded carries. Since I haven't picked up a weight since May, I'm easing back into it doing 2x5 sets of the basics. Somehow I screwed up my left shoulder and so I can't do Arnold presses yet. My attempt at a pull-up failed also, but I almost got there. I've added in some very light delt raises and some dead hangs to loosen and condition. It doesn't feel like a joint problem, more of a muscle itself issue. So we'll be active, but gentle. Deadlifting is no problem though and neither is squatting apart from the shoulder stretch, but once the joint is loose it no longer hurts. Benching does hurt so light it is. It's odd not to have to go anywhere to lift, but come winter I'm sure to really love it.

People keep saying that Wisconsin winters are hard and warning us about them which is really funny because we're from New Hampshire. Seriously people. Have you looked on a map where that is? We know winter. Ugh. You'd think we were from Alabama how people try to make us all nervous about winter. Give me a break.

I went to the farmer's market in Tomahawk today and it was pretty good. Small, but there were veggies available at 1/2 a dozen stalls. It's always tough when a lot of what's for sale are baked goods or preserves and such. Stuff we don't eat. Oddly no eggs. So we'll have to search for a new farmer. Oh Steve, how I miss you.

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Oddly enough, there's a contractor right across the street from us re-roofing an old building with what appears to be a steel roof. They're doing a great job - and it's almost complete. I have no idea what they're going to do with the building once it's done. It's been vacant and in need of repairs for YEARS.

That's my biggest pet peeve about midwest farmer's markets... it's 90% baked goods. Or veggies that are sold out of season that were shipped in from down south. :/

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Thanks MamaGrok. I’m working my way back into heavy lifting after an enforced hiatus. This time I’ll remember that muscles heal faster than connective tissue and I won’t push the weight too high too fast. Lifting in the privacy of my home should help with the show-off part of that equation. Being naturally strong I have always lifted heavier than most women and admit that I loved the jaw-drops that occurred with regularity at my old gym. Especially when I was benching 135. Virtually no women lift like that there except me so it was kind of cool.

Now I can only show off to myself and the occasional cat who wanders down to see what all the fuss is about. Today I put the 25s on for bench press. My shoulder has been sore for a couple of months now and nothing I do seems to make any difference, including moving from 75 to 95 pounds. I can’t remember an injury or any cause for the pain either so who knows. I’ll get back to that 135 one of these days.

In the meantime I’m lifting and swinging the bell and just loving the heck out of my new home. The farmers market in town has a good number of vendors with some great veggies and I’ve found a farmer for some pasture-raised pork, chicken and lamb. Beef is sold out so I’m still looking for that. Our big freezer is sadly empty. Not for long though!

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One of the things that made me start a whole foods diet was that old definition of insanity and doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting different results. Well itís happened again. The low carb thing didnít work for me long term. Iím nearly back at my starting weight despite eating very few carbs. My activity level has stayed basically the same and we all know weight is a result of diet and not exercise anyway. So, what gives?

I think itís protein and fat. Too much of both as compared to my carb consumption. So for a couple of weeks Iím adding in white potatoes and risotto instead of a protein-heavy breakfast and lunch. Weíll see what the scale reveals. Iíd like to lose 10 pounds by May when hubby and I go to California. Just so my clothes freaking fit.

Iím also trying to shift all of my eating into an 8 or 9 hour window. That means basically fasting until lunch. Iím not married to that idea since Iíve heard that IF isnít really effective for women, but Iíve got to burn fat sometime and extending my period of not eating for a while is probably when Iíll get it done.

An interesting thing happened yesterday (my first day of this shift in food). Usually if I skip a meal I get cold and stay cold until I eat again. Granted, lunch is usually the one I miss because Iím out with the camera and this time it was breakfast that I didnít have. The point is that I got suddenly warm in the mid-morning. We donít keep the house much above the mid 60s in the winter and sometimes Iíve done some kettlebell swings or jumped rope to get warm for a while. Yesterday I just suddenly got warm. Hands, face, even my ears were warm. I hadnít eaten in over 12 hours. So far the power of google hasnít been able to tell me why it happened, but itís happening again right now. Iím quite warm and itís been a couple hours since my coffee. Is it fat burning? A girl can hope. I also noticed I stayed warmer longer after eating some rice for lunch yesterday. Hm. Interesting.

One of the things that made me think about adding in more starchy foods is that Penn Jillette and his crew have had such success eating a low-fat, moderate carb diet. Iím not going to go all the way and eliminate animal products, but I think the basic plan is sound. Eat whole foods, mostly plants. Thatís it. Got it. I donít know why I was so resistant to the idea of adding in more starch, but it was stupid. Iíve perused The Perfect Health Diet by the Jaminets and I think this might be closer to what will work for me long term. At least I hope so. I was so hopeless during my weight gain that I started to get depressed again. Not good.

Not sure Iím going to be here all that much, but I thought Iíd at least put this down somewhere to help organize my thoughts and mark the start of a new flavor of a whole foods diet. (groan)

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I’ve been following, but not participating in, a couple of threads here that are interesting. The CICO thread is one. There was a time back about 10 years ago when I severely restricted calories (I kept a tracking diary, so I know) and worked out twice a day and didn’t lose an ounce. I was under 1500 calories and did cardio in the morning and weights in the afternoons. This went on for months. I got fatter.

I’ve always lived in northern climes with lots of snow and cold temps for half the year. We’ve never kept our house above 65 in the winter and that didn’t keep me from getting fatter either. Right now it’s about 64 degrees in the house and I’m neither cold nor warm, but one thing I can tell you, I’m not losing weight.

I weigh exactly the same as I did last week. I’ll keep it up with the PHD approach for a few more weeks to see if things change, but for now, nothing has. It is VERY hard not to be discouraged and give up, something I’m sure many women can sympathize with. I could go on a concentration camp diet and not lose any weight. Maybe I have to go full-blown Atkins induction phase. I don’t know. What seems so easy for other people is impossible for me.

Logically I know that can’t be true, but factually, in so far as what is really happening, it is.

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Well since the last post back in February, I have done weeks of high carb - no change. Low carb - no change. Next is starvation. Just to see. All I can say is the title of my thread is a huge joke. The trick is not to get fat in the first place. Weigh yourselves all the time, if you see it creeping up, nip it in the bud. Otherwise it never comes off.

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Well since the last post back in February, I have done weeks of high carb - no change. Low carb - no change. Next is starvation. Just to see. All I can say is the title of my thread is a huge joke. The trick is not to get fat in the first place. Weigh yourselves all the time, if you see it creeping up, nip it in the bud. Otherwise it never comes off.

You might find Jason Seib's new protocol interesting and helpful. It can be found here: altshiftdiet.com.

He does almost daily periscopes, weekly podcasts and is active on the altshiftdiet facebook page. The periscopes (found under the blog tab) and podcasts can be found here: 30kview.com